Azamara Club Cruises, which targets the “up-market” cruise guest for its two-ship fleet, unveiled a new concept called AzAmazing Evening, an “immersive complimentary destination event ashore” that will be featured on every voyage starting in 2013. In addition, the cruise line is introducing a selection of free standard spirits, wines and international beers throughout the ship during bar opening hours.

AzAmazing Evenings and the free spirits, wines and beers will begin with the start of the line’s 2013 season. For Azamara Quest, this will occur on March 27 sailing and for Azamara Journey, it will begin on May 15. “Azamara Club Cruises’ guests have an unquenchable desire to immerse themselves in the history, culture and night life of the destinations we visit, which is why we offer them longer stays, more overnights and night touring,” said Larry Pimentel, president and CEO of Azamara Club Cruises. “This new concept is an evolution of Azamara’s core differentiator that resonates with our guests, who love their time onboard but have made it clear that the cruise experience extends to their time ashore.”

The new AzAmazing Evenings are an extension of Azamara’s focus on destination immersion by offering more late night departures, overnights in port and night touring. “Other brands don't stay overnight the way we do,” says Edie Bornstein, Azamara’s senior vice president of sales and marketing. “Respectfully while many of our cruise competitors say they are doing destination immersion, it's up to agents and consumers to compare our cruises with theirs to determine who is really staying overnight or offering night touring. Our AzAmazing Evenings are at night – and that would be a key differentiator.”

For 2013, 100 percent of Azamara’s itineraries will feature late-night departures and overnight port stays, some as long as two or three days. In addition, all cruises starting for the European Season will feature one AzAmazing Evening event for all guests, usually early in the sailing. For 2013, according to Pimentel, Azamara will offer 52 events, one per cruise, designed for roughly 500-600 people each.

The new AzAmazing Evening events will replace the current 50 percent savings off Azamara’s Land Discovery shore excursions program, but Pimentel and other Azamara executives say they will provide guests with an even great value that emphasizes the line’s night touring concept and highlights a region’s culture and distinct personality with a customized and exclusive event. The free evening shore event varies from voyage to voyage so guests sailing consecutive voyages can enjoy a wide variety of experiences.

During an AzAmazing Evening, guests will be transported by motorcoaches for their experience. Guests sailing a Baltic voyage, for example, can enjoy a private ballet performance in St. Petersburg, Russia, while walking the red carpet and sipping champagne. Those on a Mediterranean voyage, for example, can sample Jerez, Spain’s famous sherry wine at Gonzalez Byass, and later enjoying a private equestrian ballet at the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art. Azamara has been testing the AzAmazing Evening concept for the past few months and has already provided these experiences to guests. Guests booked for 2013 can take advantage of these evenings at no extra charge.

AzAmazing Evenings have been designed by a team of destination experts let by Emilio Freeman, who holds the title of destination expert designer at Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL), Azamara’s parent. Indeed, Pimentel himself now oversees all land experiences for RCCL lines as chief experience officer, in addition to being Azamara’s president and CEO. “This process started back in April through series of meetings with management team at Azamara,” said Freeman. “We contracted a couple of outside experts, Peter Cox and Carol Goodman. We knew that we had to talk to different providers of events around the world.”

The project was initially dubbed EDE for Exclusive Destination Event. “We our tour operating partners to understand what we were trying to deliver,” Freeman said. “We were looking for something where our guests would be able to partake in an evening event…a concert, a show, a ballet in St. Petersburg, a performance, and include a bit of the local flavor, such as beers, wines, foods during the evening.”

In addition to AzAmazing Evenings, beginning with the 2013 Europe season, Azamara is expanding its complimentary beverage offerings, which currently include a selection of free boutique wines served at lunch and dinner, too offer free standard spirits, wines and international beers throughout the day at any of the ships’ bars and lounges.

Cruises aboard Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest already feature included gratuities for housekeeping, dining and bar staff; free bottled water, soft drinks, specialty coffees, teas; and free red and white boutique wines to accompany lunch and dinner. In addition, the line offers free self-service laundry; English Butler service for suite guests; and shuttle transportation to city centers in ports where available.

Azamara features 694-guest ships, Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest, each with a combination of 347 suites and staterooms. It sails to European destinations, including the Baltic and Scandinavia, British Isles, Western Europe, French and Italian Rivieras, Greek Isles, Croatia, Holy Land and Black Sea. It also features sailings in Asia, South America, lesser-traveled islands of the West Indies, and, in 2014, the West Coast of the United States. For more information or reservations, travel agents can click CruisingPower.

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